


big boy spider

by sleeponrooftops



Series: raising webhead: a parenting guide, attempted by the science boyfriends [7]
Category: Iron Man - All Media Types, Marvel, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Incredible Hulk - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-20
Updated: 2013-05-20
Packaged: 2017-12-12 09:47:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/810185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleeponrooftops/pseuds/sleeponrooftops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter stays up all night worrying that his new dads won’t know that his birthday is in the morning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	big boy spider

**Author's Note:**

> Notes —
> 
> i. This is told mostly in Peter’s point of view, so, just in case you haven’t caught on yet, Tony is dad and Bruce is daddy.

_Two months later._

_August, 2013_

 

Peter has been up for three hours worrying about tomorrow, and he can’t decide if he should wake his daddies up and ask if they know what tomorrow is because he’s afraid they’ll be mad he’s awake after bedtime.  He sighs, turning over, pulling Ollie close to him, and he tries to close his eyes and go back to sleep, but it won’t work, so he kicks his blankets off and climbs up to his hammock, giving a little push off the wall so it rocks, and, eventually, he falls asleep again.

 

When he wakes up in the morning, it’s very quiet, and his daddy isn’t coming into his room to wake him up.  Trying not to cry, he climbs out of his hammock, gripping the edge before he lets himself drop back down to his bed.  He slides off that and goes over to the bathroom to pee and brush his teeth like daddy always makes him in the morning, and then he goes back into his bedroom, but his door is still closed.  Sniffling, he sets Ollie back on his bed and mumbles to himself, “I have to be a brave spider, like dad always says.”

 

He gets dressed in a pair of cargo shorts so Ollie can sit in one of the pockets and a green t-shirt, and then he goes back into the bathroom to clamber up onto his stool and look in the mirror while he tries to fix his crazy hair like daddy always does.

 

“Jarvis,” he whispers when he’s standing alone in his room again, “Do you know it’s my birthday?”

 

Jarvis doesn’t respond, and Peter can’t stop the tears this time.  He sits down in the middle of his room, holding Ollie close to him, crying, until he hears, “Damn it—Tony, it’s eight thirty.”

 

“ _Shit_.”

 

“Go get him, maybe he slept in.  No, I’ll do that.  _Go_.”

 

Peter stares at the door, clutching Ollie and still crying until the door opens slowly.  “Peter?” dad asks, stepping in.  He looks down and says, “Oh no, Peter.”  Dad comes over, picking him up off the ground and hugging him tightly.  Peter buries his face in his chest, his tears building into sobs, and he shakes a little as dad rubs his back.  “I’m so sorry, baby.  Are you upset because you thought we forgot?”

 

“Forgot what?” Peter stutters, leaning back to look at his face.

 

“It’s your birthday, silly,” dad says, tapping him on the nose, and Peter’s whole face brightens up.

 

“You didn’t forgotted?”

 

“Of course not, little man.  Come on, daddy and I have something special waiting for you.”  Dad uses his own shirt to wipe Peter’s face dry, and then he carries him out of his room and down the hall where Peter gasps, smacking dad’s chest excitedly.

 

“Oh, Peter,” daddy says sadly, coming over and leaning up to kiss his temple, “I’m sorry, sweetie.”

 

“It’s okay,” Peter mumbles, beaming, “You didn’t forgotted.”

 

“Not a chance.  Are you hungry?”

 

“Yes!  What’s for breakfast?”

 

“Your favorite, mister four-year-old.”

 

Peter cheers as dad takes him over to the island, where there’s a tall stack of banana pancakes next to a bowl of hash browns and another of sautéed mushrooms.  He sets Ollie on the island when dad puts him down on his stool.  Daddy cuts up his pancakes before handing them over, and dad pours the strawberry syrup while daddy gets his orange juice.  They eat breakfast together, and Peter keeps trying to ask if there are any more surprises, but his daddies just smile and say it’s a secret.

 

After breakfast, daddy takes him in to change his shirt because it’s messy from syrup, and he helps him into his Converse and then tells him to close his eyes.  He does so, giggling when something touches his head, and then daddy picks him up.  “Okay,” daddy says, “Open your eyes.”

 

He obeys, gasping when he sees himself in the mirror, a Transformers baseball cap on his head.  “It’s so cool!” he exclaims, looping his arms around daddy’s neck and hugging him tightly, “Thank you!”

 

“Hey,” dad says, poking his head in, “They’re here.”

 

“Are you ready for your next surprise, Peter?” daddy asks, and Peter nods enthusiastically, squirming a little.  “Alright, Ollie has to come, too, though.”

 

“Okay!”

 

Dad hands him Ollie, and Peter holds him tightly as daddy carries him out of his room, and they go into the elevator.  Dad has a backpack looped over one shoulder, and Peter wants to ask what’s in it so badly.  When the elevator stops, Peter squeaks with excitement, and his daddies laugh before the doors ding open.  In the lobby, Uncle Steve, Uncle Logan, Uncle Thor, and Auntie Jane are there with Auntie Sue, Uncle Reed, and Johnny.  “Happy birthday, Peter!” they all cheer at the same time, and Peter claps his hands together, giggling.

 

“Can I get down?” he asks daddy, who sets him down so Peter can go over.  He gets a bunch of hugs before he gets to Johnny, who high fives him.

 

When he looks over at his daddies, though, dad just says, “Secret,” and Peter huffs even though he’s smiling and on the verge of giggles again.

 

They take one of the big cars in the garage, everyone getting inside and talking to Peter all at once, who sits beaming in his car seat, holding Ollie tightly.  When they finally stop driving, daddy tells him to close his eyes again, and, when he’s allowed to open them again, he doesn’t make any noise because he’s too excited to even _breathe_.  “THE ZOO!” he finally shouts, doing a little dance and then running off with Johnny.

 

They have to wait in line, so Peter and Johnny talk about all the animals they’re going to see, and then they’re going inside, and Peter feels like he’s going to burst, he’s so happy.  Uncle Thor offers to let him ride on his shoulders so he can see better, and he holds up his arms in response.  Johnny rides on Uncle Reed’s shoulders, though Peter gets to switch every once in a while, going to Uncle Steve and even Uncle Logan once before he settles with dad.

 

He shrieks with delight and holds Ollie up in the air when they get to the elephants, and he only gets down to play with the ducks with Johnny and to press his face to the glass when they get to the spiders and insects.  They eat lunch at the zoo, he gets a balloon that says happy birthday on it, and they go to a reptile show where he gets to hold a snake.  They stay all day because there’s a small amusement park nearby, and then there’s a fireworks show at dusk.  Afterward, though, his daddies take him out to a restaurant where everyone has presents for him, and he can barely sit still.

 

By the time they finally get home, he’s so tired he doesn’t even care that it’s so early still, he just wants to go to bed, but his daddies say they have one last surprise, and they take him to the lab.  Dad holds him, one hand over his eyes, and Peter doesn’t understand right away when he takes his hand away, but then dad says, “It’s your space.”

 

He sees it, then, a section cleared off in the lab for him, his own desks and his own monitors and his own tools.  “Happy birthday, Peter,” Jarvis says overhead, and Peter bats at dad until he puts him down so he can go explore.  Even with the bad morning, Peter decides this is the best birthday in the world.


End file.
